GOP Rakes in Wall Street Cash, ‘Muppets’ Done With Chick-fil-A, and More

Posted on Jul 24, 2012

Most Wall Street Donations Support Republicans: It’s been two years since Dodd-Frank was passed to help prevent another financial crisis, and Wall Street is apparently not a fan. And why should it be? The financial reforms aren’t doing it any favors. But congressional Republicans, who are trying to water down Dodd-Frank, are aiding Wall Street, and they’re being rewarded handsomely for their troubles. This election cycle, Wall Street is generously backing GOP congressional candidates. Thus far, 64 percent of donations have gone to Republican candidates, while 35 percent have gone to Democrats. (Read more)

GOP Super PAC Donor Disclosure: Who’s contributing to conservative super PACs? Really rich people, that’s who. Million-dollar donors make up nearly half of Republican super PAC fundraising. This election cycle, about four dozen families have given donations of at least $1 million to super PACs. About three-quarters of those contributions went to super PACs that supported conservative causes. The top givers are billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam. The pair have donated a whopping $34 million to influence the outcome of the 2012 election. To recap: The wealthy and Wall Street seem to be overwhelmingly supporting Republican candidates this cycle. The GOP should probably send a thank you note to the Supreme Court—once again—for Citizens United. (Read more)

Bush Visits Romney Campaign Headquarters: He won’t be speaking at the Republican National Convention, nor will he be hitting the trail anytime soon for Mitt Romney, but George W. Bush hasn’t entirely removed himself from Campaign 2012. He did, after all, endorse Romney’s candidacy right as an elevator was about to close on his face. And on Tuesday, the former president and wife Laura dropped by Romney’s campaign headquarters in Boston. The presumed GOP presidential nominee was not there at the time. According to the Romney campaign, Bush came to speak with campaign staffers. (Read more)

Tampa Gets Ready for the RNC: Every part of Tampa, Fla., is preparing for the Republican National Convention next month, including the city’s strip clubs. The GOP and strippers—doesn’t exactly sound like a match, does it? But wait. Here’s an interesting nugget from The Tampa Tribune: “In 2010, when the convention was awarded to Tampa, club owner Joe Redner said never mind that the GOP pitches itself as a party of family values. ‘Washington, D.C., per capita, sells more bondage leather than any place else in the world,’ Redner, who owns the Mons Venus, told the Tribune in 2010. ‘Those people are kinky.’ ” And even better, one of the clubs is bringing in a Sarah Palin look-alike to entertain during the convention. You know, for those who were really hoping to catch a glimpse of the former GOP vice presidential candidate at the RNC. (Read more)

‘Muppets’ Exit Chick-fil-A Deal: The entertainment company behind “The Muppets” has severed ties with Chick-fil-A because of the anti-gay stance of the fast food chain’s CEO. Dan Cathy recently reaffirmed his staunch opposition to same-sex marriage. The Jim Henson Co. and Chick-fil-A had partnered to create a line of toys for the restaurants’ kids meals. But on Friday, the entertainment company made it plain that it no longer wished to be part of any collaboration with the fast food chain, via this Facebook post: “The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors. Lisa Henson, our CEO, is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-fil-A to GLAAD.” Good on the Jim Henson Co. for taking a stand against discrimination. (Read more)

Video of the Day: Stephen Colbert, returning to the air for the first time since the Colorado theater shooting, took Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to task for suspending their negative campaign ads while the nation mourned. For Colbert, taking the ads off was hypocritical, because, he noted: “You can’t stop your attack ads every time there’s a gun crime! There are nearly 9,000 gun homicides a year in America. That means 25 people are murdered with guns every day. So if you’re really pulling those ads down to be sensitive, I don’t think you can ever run them again.” He makes a great point there.